Electric gun firing mechanism



May 10, 1966 E. P. SIMMONS ELECTRIC GUN FIRING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 5,1964 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent O 3,250,034 ELECTRIC GUN FIRING MECHANISM Ernest P.Simmons, 2510 Lafayette, Kansas City, Kans. Filed Aug. 5, 1964, Ser. No.387,697 3 Claims. (Cl. 42-84) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in firearms, and has particular reference to the firingmechanisms of such rear-ms. While the invention is shown and describedinconnection with a shotgun, it will be understood that it may be appliedalso to riiies and other weapons, especially shoulder arms.

The princip-alobject of the present invention is the provision of anelectrically actuated firing mechanism for the gun.

Another object is the provision of an electric gun firing mechanismwherein the electrically operated element actuates the firing pindirectly, rather than functioning simply as an electric trigger foractuating the usual sear-and-hammer iiring mechanism. This permits theelimination of many iinely machined precision parts, and alsosubstantially increases the firing speed of the gun by reducing lthetime lapse between the actuation of the trigger and the actual firing ofthe shell or cartridge. A further object is the provision of a gunfiring mechanism of the character described wherein the source ofelectric power, such .as dry-cell batteries, is carried in a caseseparate from the gun and connected to the gun itself by trailing wiresdetachably plugged into the g-un, whereby detachment of said wires fromthe gun automatically renders the gun safe from accidental firing.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, efficiency anddependability of operation, and adaptability for use in a wide varietyof types and styles of g-uns.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appearin the course of the specification, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. l is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the breech and stockportions of a shotgun including a firing mechanism embodying the presentinvention, w-ith parts left in elevation and partial-ly broken away,

iFIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line II-II ofFIG. 1, with parts left in elevation,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line III- III of FIG. l,and

FIG. 4 is a schematic wiring diagram of the iring mechanism.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the severalviews, and the numeral 2 applies generally to a shotgun including abarrel 4, forepiece 6, frame 8, and stock 10. Frame 8 includes a breechblock 12, and an upper tang 14 and a lower tang 16 Vextending rearwardlyfrom said breech block in vertically spaced apart relation, said tangsbeing connected at their rearward ends by a vertically extending crossbar 18. Said frame is made of steel, and is hence electricallyconductive. Barrel 4 has a chamber 20 formed in the rearward end thereoffor receiving a shell 22, the base of said shell normally restingagainst the forward face of ybreech block 12. It will `be understoodthat the base of said shell is provided centrally with a tiring cap (notshown) adapted to be detonated by a tiring pin 24 disposed slidably in apassage 26 of the breech block. Barrel 4 is mounted in forepiece 6, andispivoted in frame 8 at 28, whereby the rearward end of the barrel maybe pivoted upwardly from the breech block to permit insertion andremoval of shells into and out of chamber 20. The barrel is re'leasa'blysecured in its tiring position by a breech lock mechanism which isstandard and is therefore not here illustrated. Stock 10, usually wood,is aiixed to the rearward end of frame 8 by an elongated screw 30threaded into cross `bar 18 of the frame, and extends forwardly alongthe sides of tangs 14 and 16 to breech block 12, `as shown in FIGS. 2and 3. The space between said rangs, and within the stock, constitutes achamber 32 which normally contains the hammer, sear, cock-ing mechanism,and other elements of the usual firing mechanism.

According to the present invention, firing pin 24 is connected rigidlyto and forms an axial extension of the armature 34 of an electricsolenoid 36 mounted in chamber 32. In addition to said armature, saidsolenoid includes a tubular outer housing 38 secured to upper tang 14 byscrews 40, a coaxial inner housing tulbe 42 disposed within said outertube and extending rearwardly therefrom to form a housing 44, armature34 being slidably mounted in said inner tube and housing, an end plate46 closing the forward end of housing 38 and having an aperture 48through which firing pin 24 extends, an end plate 50 closing therearward end of housing 318, and a wire coil 512 substantially fillingthe annular space between housing members 38 and 42. A weak helicalcompression spring 54 is disposed about the firing pin, bearing at oneend against armature 34 and at its opposite end against end plate 46,whereby to retract said firing pin away from shell 22. Whenever coil S2is energized, armature 34 is advanced forwardly against spring 54 toiire t-he gun.

A trigger 56 of usual lever design is pivoted in lower .iframe tang 16on a horizontal transverse pivot pin 58, extending rearwardly from s-aidpivot pin in a slot of said tang, being provided at its rearward endwith a notch 60 engaging said tang to limit the vertical movement of thetrigger. The depending finger piece 62 of the trigger is provided with arearwardly extending lug 64 in which is mounted a vertically slidablepin 66 engaging the lower sunface of tang 16, said p-in being urgedupwardly, whereby to bias the trigger downwardly, by a spring 68 mountedin lug 64, the tension of said spring being adjustable by a screw 70threaded in the lug whereby to adjust the sensitivity of the triggerpull. If the gun is equipped with the normal trigger guard 72, saidguard may have a hole 74 formed therein to provide access to screw 70.

Above tang 16, within chamber 32, trigger 56 carries an electric switchcontact 76 which cooperates with a con-tact 78 mounted on tang 16 butinsulated therefrom lby an insulating block 80. Contact 76 is normallyspaced apart from contact 78, but is operable to be brought intoengagement therewith by pulling the trigger. One terminus of solenoidcoil 52 is connected by wire 82 to contact 78, so that when contacts76-78 are closed by pulling t-he trigger, the coil is grounded to frame8 through trigger 56 and pivot pin 58, the ground connection beingindicated at 84 in FIG. 4. The other terminus of coil 52 has a wire 86connected thereto. Wire 8 6, and another wire 88 grounded to frame 8 at90, extends through a bore 92 of stock 10 into a cavity 94 formed in thelower end of the Igrip portion of said stock. Said cavity is covered [bya grip plate 96 secured to the stock by screws 98, and mounted in saidplate is the socket portion of a two-channel phone jack 99. Asdiagrammed in FIG. 4, said socket includes a sleeve conductor 100 intowhich t-he plug of the jack may be inserted, and to which wire 88 isconnected, and a prong conductor 102 insulated from sleeve 100 and towhich wire 86 is connected. The plug of the phone jack includes a shankconductor 104 operable to engage sleeve 100 when the plug is inserted inthe socket, and a tip conductor 106 insulated from lshank 104 andadapted to engage prong 102. As the plug is inserted, tip 106 3 springsprong 102 out of engagement with a second prong 108 carried by sleeve100, said prong being provided with cooperating contacts 110 and 112,said contacts engaging when the plug is withdrawn. Contacts 110 and 112form a shorting switch, as will be de.

scribed.

Shank 104 and tip 106 of the phone jack are connected respectively bywires 114 and 116, enclosed in a exible cable 118, with the terminals ofa battery of dry cells 120 carried in a container 122, the cable 118being of such length that container 122 may conveniently be carried inthe gunners pocket, or in any other convenient location, Wires 86 and 88also have wires 124 and 126 connected respectively thereto, said latterwires extending rearwardly through a bore 12S in stock 10 from cavity 94to a series of electrical condensers 130 carried in a cavity 132 formedin the shoulder end portion of the stock and accessible by removing theshoulder plate 134, which is secured to the stock by screws 136. Saidcondensers are connected in parallel across wires 124 and 126.

In operation, it will be seen that when the plug of phone jack 99 isinserted in its socket, the battery of cells 120 is connected acrosscondensers 130 in a circuit from the battery through wire 116, plug tip106, prong 102, wires 86 and 126, and condensers 130, wires 124 and 88,sleeve 100, shank 104 and wire 114, whereby said condensers are charged.After a few seconds during which condensers 130 become fully charged,the gun is ready to fire. Then, when trigger 56 is pulled, contacts 76and 78 engage, completing a circuit from battery 120 and condensers 130through wires 86 and 126, solenoid 36, wires 82, contacts 78 and 76,trigger 56, frame 8 and wires 124 and 88. Solenoid 36, thus energized bythe battery, reinforced by the discharge of condensers 130, urgesarmature 34 and firing pin 24 forwardly to detonate the shell. The gunwill of course be ready to fire again as soon as the condensers have hadtime to be recharged after trigger switch 76-78 is reopened. Thisnormally requires only a few seconds. When the phone jack plug iswithdrawn from its socket, the gun is entirely safe, because the batteryis of course then disconnected, and also because when the plug iswithdrawn, shorting contacts 110-112 of the jack socket come intoengagement aspreviously described, forming a direct short circuit acrossthe condensers 130 and causing them to be discharged. Were it not forthis short-circuiting provision, the jack plug could be removed leavingthe condensersfully charged, so that the gun could later be fired byaccident if the trigger were pulled either inadvartently or in thebelief that the gun was safe.

The solenoid replaces the entire complicated, nely machined andexpensive firing mechanism usually operated by the trigger, includingthe sear, sear spring, hammer, hammer spring and hammer eockingmechanism, and my mechanism thus constitutes a substantial economy overprevious guns. Another advantage is extreme ring speed, as little asfive or six thousandths of a second elapsing between the time thetrigger is actuated andthe time the gun actually fires. Perhaps three orfour times this delay occurs in standard firing mechanisms, due to thetime required for mechanical movement of parts, and inertia of springsand hammers. This added ring speed is particularly important when thegun is used by persons who have developed an involuntary anticipatoryflinching whenever they pull the trigger, as such nching can cause thegun to move off-target before the gun actually lires. Re- -ducing thefiring time as in the present device greatly reduces inaccuracy ofaiming from this cause.

One problem which developed during the development of this invention wasthat with a solenoid small enough to be mounted in the limited confinesof the gun frame, dificulty was experienced in providing a battery powerpack sufficiently small and light enough in weight to be carriedconveniently on the person, and still supply the momentary heavy surgeof current necessary to develop the momentum of the armature 34 requiredto fire the gun positively. Condensers largely solved this problem byproviding a momentary current volume much 'greater than could besupplied by the battery alone. Also for this reason, the ring pin isprovided with a longer travel than is usual, to allow time fordevelopment of greater momentum and striking force.

Many changes of the structure illustrated could be made within the scopeof the invention. For example, while trigger 56 is illustrated as havingconventional lever form, it is in effect only the manual operatingmember vof what amounts to a simple electric switch. A simplepush-button switch of any desired type could therefore be substitutedfor that shown. Condensers 130 could be mounted in container 122externally of the gun along with battery 120, or the battery could bemounted in the stock together with the condensers. In the arrangementillustrated, the condensers are mounted in the stock in the interests ofcompactness and because they are light in weight and hence do notmaterially effect the balance of the gun, while the battery is carriedin a separate container both because being somewhat heavy they wouldincrease the weight of and-disturb the balance of the gun, and becauseof the ready safety feature provided by disconnection of the powersource from the gun.

It is considered that all of the modications discussed above, as well asother -minor changes of structure and operation, could be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a gun including a firing pin movable from aretracted position to an advanced position wherebyto impinge against anddetonate a shell carried by said gun, and electric firing mechanismcomprising:

(a) electrically actuated operating means operable when energized tomove said tiring pin to its advanced position,

(b) an operative electric circuit including, in series, a source ofelectric power, said operating means, and a manually operable, normallyopen trigger switch,

(c) one or more electrical condensers connected in said operativeelectric circuit in parallel with said source of electric power, and

. (d) a manually operable shorting switch operable when closed to form adirect short circuit across the terminals of said condensers, wherebysaid condensers may be discharged without energizing said operatingmeans.

2. In combination with a gun including a firing pin movable from aretracted position to an advanced position whereby to impinge againstand detonate a shell carried by said' gun, an electric firing mechanismcomprising:

(a) electrically actuated operating means operable when energized tomove said firing pin to its advanced position,

(b) an operative electric circuit including, in series,

a source of electric power, said operating means, and v a manuallyoperable, normally open trigger switch,

(c) one or more electrical condensers connected in said operativeelectric circuit in parallel with said source of electric power, and

(d) manually operable switch means operable when actuated both to removesaid source of electric power from said electric circuit, and also toform a direct short circuit across the terminals of said condensers.

3. An electric gun tiring mechanism as recited in claim 2 wherein saidcondensers are mounted in said gun and said source of electric power isdisposed separately from said gun and has extending therefrom a flexiblecable, and wherein said last named manually operable switch meansconstitutes a two-channel plug-and-socket connector, the plug portion ofsaid connector being connected to the free end of said cable and beingremovably insertable in the socket portion of the connector, which ismounted in the gun, whereby said power source is inserted in saidoperative circuit, said condensers being connected across the terminalsof said socket, said socket portion including a shorting switch operablewhen closed 1,540,494 6/ 1925 Olszowiec 42-84 1,875,941 9/1932 Schwartz42-84 1,987,912 1/1935 Rady et al. 42-84 2,337,145 12/1943 Albree 42-84X 2,780,882 2/19i57 Temple 42-84 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A GUN INCLUDING A FIRING PIN MOVABLE FROM ARETRACTED POSITION TO AN ADVANCED POSITION WHEREBY TO IMPINGE AGAINSTAND DETONATE A SHELL CARRIED BY SAID GUN, AND ELECTRIC FIRING MECHANISMCOMPRISING: (A) ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED OPERATING MEANS OPERABLE WHENENERGIZED TO MOVE SAID FIRING PIN OT ITS ADVANCED POSITION, (B) ANOPERATIVE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT INCLUDING, IN SERIES, A SOURCE OF ELECTRICPOWER, SAID OPERATING MEANS, AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE, NORMALLY OPENTRIGGER SWITCH, (C) ONE OR MORE ELECTRICAL CONDENSERS CONNECTED IN SAIDOPERATIVE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT IN PARALLEL WITH SAID SOURCE OF ELECTRICPOWER, AND (D) A MANUALLY OPERABLE SHORTING SWITCH OPERABLE WHEN CLOSEDTO FORM A DIRECT SHORT CIRCUIT ACROSS THE TERMINALS OF SAID CONDENSERS,WHEREBY SAID CONDENSERS MAY BE DISCHARGED WITHOUT ENERGIZING SAIDOPERATING MEANS.